5 ms·

Half formed thought, but are today's superheroes last generation's Clint Eastwood/Steve McQueen/John Wayne?

by brad0 9y ago

andy_wrote 9y ago
I have sometimes looked at old cinema and wondered, "Why did they make so many Westerns?" I figure that in some decades people will be looking at our time and asking, "Why did they make so many superhero movies?"
- brad0 9y ago
  I read recently that studios are making more movies aimed at the 50s+ female crowd. The movies are about being single woman and the dating scene at that age. The reason they made these films is because the 60+ woman demographic is the highest spending right now. People want to see their own experiences reflected in cinema. I can't join in my head how westerns were a reflection of young and middle aged males. Possibly it depends on the demographic? ie: middle aged men stuck in a boring job and providing for a family makes them feel powerless. Seeing a strong male on his path gives him the feeling he desires. So maybe it's not about reflection of experiences but rather an expression of the feelings the demographic wants to feel.
  - megaman22 9y ago
    I think Westerns were relatively cheap to produce, at the time. Lots of open spaces to film in not far from Hollywood, lots of horses still easily obtainable, cheap costumes, not much in the way of special effects.
    - the-dude 9y ago
      Notable westerns were shot in Spain ( Once upon in the west comes to mind ). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Almer%C3%ADa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Almer%C3...
      - ghaff 9y ago
        See also spaghetti westerns. They were low cost but obviously if you crank out many hundred films of a genre there’s obviously a demand for them.
        brad0 9y ago
        Which comes back to my original point. After all those movies there was still a demand. Where was that demand originating from?
- B1FF_PSUVM 9y ago
  > so many superhero movies That's overlooking the plague of zombie stories since the turn of the century. They were pretty rare, and then, boom, you can't move without bumping into one of the things. My pet theory is that we're reduced to beating up the dead because they can't complain.
  - brad0 9y ago
    I had a good laugh at your theory. Every other person cannot be bad so we have to attack things that are mindless. I guess you can put aliens and AI robots in that theory as well. Except both of those have the potential to be understood. Zombies can't be cured! Our only choice is to kill them! My Conscience is Free!
- pmoriarty 9y ago
  "Why did they make so many superhero movies?" The thing is we didn't. Hollywood did. A gigantic industry devoted to churning out movies designed in some Hollywood exec's mind to make the most money possible. That's why we have so much crap. Why is today's crap superhero crap and yesterday's Western crap? Probably because people just got bored of Westerns. Some day Westerns will be back in style. What's old will be new again.
- usrusr 9y ago
  > I figure that in some decades people will be looking at our time and asking, "Why did they make so many superhero movies?" Is that something we don't ask ourselves today? Why wait decades?
olavk 9y ago
Good point. I would say it is not surprising that people remain interested in the genres they loved as kids. The whole idea that certain genres corresponds to certain ages might be a misunderstanding of demographics - it is more likely that genres follow generations. Like how punk rock was considered only for teenagers, but when those teenagers grew older they continued to like punk rock, while new generations of teenagers like other genres. Superheros might be dumb (with the odd flashes of brilliance), but they are not really dumber than James Bond or westerns or Agatha Christie or whatever escapistic genres have been popular. I also think Moore understands this pretty deeply (considering his deep dives into historical popular culture in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), but he just have some personal bitterness towards the superhero business, so he likes to disparage its fans.

Half formed thought, but are today's superheroes last generation's Clint Eastwood/Steve McQueen/John Wayne?

by brad0 9y ago

Half formed thought, but are today's superheroes last generation's Clint Eastwood/Steve McQueen/John Wayne?

I have sometimes looked at old cinema and wondered, "Why did they make so many Westerns?" I figure that in some decades people will be looking at our time and asking, "Why did they make so many superhero movies?"

brad0 9y ago
I read recently that studios are making more movies aimed at the 50s+ female crowd. The movies are about being single woman and the dating scene at that age. The reason they made these films is because the 60+ woman demographic is the highest spending right now. People want to see their own experiences reflected in cinema. I can't join in my head how westerns were a reflection of young and middle aged males. Possibly it depends on the demographic? ie: middle aged men stuck in a boring job and providing for a family makes them feel powerless. Seeing a strong male on his path gives him the feeling he desires. So maybe it's not about reflection of experiences but rather an expression of the feelings the demographic wants to feel.
- megaman22 9y ago
  I think Westerns were relatively cheap to produce, at the time. Lots of open spaces to film in not far from Hollywood, lots of horses still easily obtainable, cheap costumes, not much in the way of special effects.
  - the-dude 9y ago
    Notable westerns were shot in Spain ( Once upon in the west comes to mind ). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Almer%C3%ADa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Almer%C3...
    - ghaff 9y ago
      See also spaghetti westerns. They were low cost but obviously if you crank out many hundred films of a genre there’s obviously a demand for them.
      - brad0 9y ago
        Which comes back to my original point. After all those movies there was still a demand. Where was that demand originating from?
B1FF_PSUVM 9y ago
> so many superhero movies That's overlooking the plague of zombie stories since the turn of the century. They were pretty rare, and then, boom, you can't move without bumping into one of the things. My pet theory is that we're reduced to beating up the dead because they can't complain.
- brad0 9y ago
  I had a good laugh at your theory. Every other person cannot be bad so we have to attack things that are mindless. I guess you can put aliens and AI robots in that theory as well. Except both of those have the potential to be understood. Zombies can't be cured! Our only choice is to kill them! My Conscience is Free!
pmoriarty 9y ago
"Why did they make so many superhero movies?" The thing is we didn't. Hollywood did. A gigantic industry devoted to churning out movies designed in some Hollywood exec's mind to make the most money possible. That's why we have so much crap. Why is today's crap superhero crap and yesterday's Western crap? Probably because people just got bored of Westerns. Some day Westerns will be back in style. What's old will be new again.
usrusr 9y ago
> I figure that in some decades people will be looking at our time and asking, "Why did they make so many superhero movies?" Is that something we don't ask ourselves today? Why wait decades?

olavk 9y ago

Good point. I would say it is not surprising that people remain interested in the genres they loved as kids. The whole idea that certain genres corresponds to certain ages might be a misunderstanding of demographics - it is more likely that genres follow generations. Like how punk rock was considered only for teenagers, but when those teenagers grew older they continued to like punk rock, while new generations of teenagers like other genres. Superheros might be dumb (with the odd flashes of brilliance), but they are not really dumber than James Bond or westerns or Agatha Christie or whatever escapistic genres have been popular. I also think Moore understands this pretty deeply (considering his deep dives into historical popular culture in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), but he just have some personal bitterness towards the superhero business, so he likes to disparage its fans.